


The Superior Football

by comeasyouarememoryah



Category: Women's Soccer RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-29
Updated: 2019-07-07
Packaged: 2020-05-29 15:16:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,187
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19402954
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/comeasyouarememoryah/pseuds/comeasyouarememoryah
Summary: Kelley does not make it into soccer team but it leads her to a new position as starting kicker - for the boys football team.





	1. American Football?

**Author's Note:**

> I have never played either football but I enjoy watching both of them. Here's another Highschool AU because why not.

Kelley sighed as the summer went on. After making it onto her high school soccer team as the first freshman on the varsity soccer team in five years, the elite team she wanted to play for did not put her on their roster. All she dreamed of since middle school was getting on the Vipers squad. They were the best team in the league, coached by Mark Walters, a former pro-soccer player. She was dreading her sophomore year, she couldn’t even look forward to spring soccer, especially since they fired assistant coach Kristen due to lack of funding.

Determined after being underestimated, Kelley practiced every day of the summer she trained alone most days because her high-school teammates made it onto the Vipers squad and did not have time to train with her. She rolled her eyes at her school’s varsity football team practicing on the better maintained field parallel to the soccer field. They haven’t won a single state championship or even went to play-offs in a decade, she was willing to bet her kicking foot that despite the football team practicing a month before their first game in September, they would still lose. Kelley played little league football with her brother Jerry while their dad coached them back in Georgia. Jerry’s dream is to join the Diamond Bar Brahmas. Kelley decided that she was done playing with the boys and that soccer is the superior sport.

“You there!”

  
Startled, Kelley kicked the ball into the crossbar. She turned to the person who interrupted an otherwise perfect kick. She recognized him as one of the football coaches.

  
“Hi I’m coach Cooper, but the boys call me Dominic,” said a man with a thick beard, “do you mind joining us a bit? You have a damn good leg. Our old kicker graduated and the kid who was supposed to replace him quit.”

  
Kelley decided that she would humor Dominic, especially if it meant wiping the smirks off of some of football guys.

  
“Sure,” she shrugged as she walked towards the ball set up on the twenty yard line. What they did not know was that she still occasionally kicked footballs around for when Jerry wanted to practice catching punts. Kelley smirked cockily as she moved the ball ten yards back. She ran and then kicked the ball perfectly between the two crossbars. A guy the size of a tree started running towards her cheering.

  
“Holy shit dude, that was awesome!” He screamed as he gave Kelley an enthusiastic high five,

“The name is Tyler but everyone calls me Moose.”

  
“The name is Kelley but my soccer teammates call me Kevin,” Kelley said as the rest of the boys started to circle around them giving high fives.

  
Dominic parted the sea of purple practice jerseys.  
“Well boys, we have ourselves a new kicker,” he said as he shook Kelley’s hand.

* * *

The first week of practice with the boys was rough, especially sprinting and team weightlifting sessions. Kelley did not have the energy to continue football and soccer. After the first practice of her second week, Kelley dragged herself back to the soccer field. A lone figure was already there, kicking ball after ball into the top left corner with insane precision. The girl stopped as Kelley approached.

  
“Mind if I join you?” Kelley asked as she stared into the bluest eyes she had ever seen. She instantly felt undeniably attracted to the girl playing soccer well enough to be on a college team. Kelley had come to terms with her sexuality, she has a girlfriend, Ann whom she adores but she wasn’t the type to parade it around like some other members on the soccer team. Ann called it internalized homophobia but Kelley wanted to lay low and not cause any unnecessary problems for herself. She tries to keep PDA to a minimum but Ann wants to be a martyr when it comes to their relationship. She heard the gay being thrown around like an insult around the school but there were plenty of out kids with an active GSA.

  
“Yeah cool okay,” the girl stammered, flustered that Kelley from the Brahma’s varsity soccer team would talk to a lowly freshman, “my name is Alex by the way.”

  
“Kelley,” she responded back as she shook away thoughts of kissing Alex then and there.

  
“How come I’ve never seen you around before?” Kelley asked as she kicked a ball that bounced off the left post.

  
“I’m a rising freshman. Don’t forget my name, because you’re going to see me on the same roster as you,” Alex responded proudly.

  
“If you mean football, it’s too late to try out,” Kelley retorted.

“I meant soccer,” Alex said while rolling her eyes, “aren’t you on the varsity soccer team?”

  
“I decided to quit depending on how well the football season goes,” Kelley said furrowing her brows a bit, “You get pretty fed up with playing better than all the other teams at this school while getting half the credit. Plus the fact that there are no coaches that specialize in certain positions due to lack of funding.”

  
“The sport itself is the reward. Think of how much passion goes into each goal and how rewarding it is to celebrate a win with your teammates,” Alex said as her eyes seemed to shine a bit more.

  
“I guess you’re right Alex,” Kelley said as the ball went perfectly in the top left corner.  
Alex grinned in response.

  
“I bet you’ve never seen a freshman do this before!” she exclaimed as the ball curved into the top right corner.

  
“You gotta teach me that,” Kelley said as her jaw dropped a bit.

  
“Maybe if you stick around. I practice every day after the smelly football guys leave,” Alex sassed.

  
“Hey those are my teammates you’re talking about,” Kelley said with mock indignation.

* * *

Kelley missed playing sports with the gender that actually cared about personal hygiene. The boys quickly welcomed her and her goofy personality with open arms so she couldn’t complain. Plus she had been playing soccer with Alex the past two weeks. The other perk was having a home and an away jersey with O’Hara proudly displayed next to her new number, 5. Ironically her favorite teammate, Moose, took her preferred number 19. She still was annoyed at the fact that other sports teams actually won games but did not get as much benefits as football. Her soccer jersey did not have her name, because the girls had to use the same jerseys each year.

  
“What are you thinking about?” Alex asked as she shook Kelley out of her thoughts.

  
“Just how I’m totally going to kick your ass in one v one today,” Kelley joked as she playfully pushed Alex’s shoulder.

  
She realized that she was blowing off more and more dates with Ann, especially with football practice and soccer with Alex. She shook away the guilty feeling of not spending time with her girlfriend.

  
“You in there?” Alex said jokingly as she lightly knocked on Kelley’s forehead.

  
“I’m fine,” Kelley said as she swiftly stole the ball from Alex, “I’m just nervous about the first game coming up and starting sophomore year.”

  
“You’ll do amazing. I’ve never seen any high school football player kick as well as you, heck, even the college kickers my dad watches could learn a thing or two from you,” Alex said sincerely as she squeezed Kelley’s shoulder.

  
“Thanks. I have coach Dominic to thank for that. He is hands down the best coach I’ve had,” Kelley said as she blushed.

  
“Wait what about Jean Elliot?” Alex asked.

  
“You know how the Brahmas were knocked out of semi-finals?”

Alex nodded.

  
“The team we were playing fouled us like crazy that game, three of our players walked off injured. It felt like the refs were against us. Jean had to sub in players that were on the bench the entire season. We had so many opportunities to give the rookies more play time when we were dominating teams 6 to 0 but Jean made some awful calls. There was nothing we could do as a team. I scored and got an assist but we were still down 2 to 8 in the end,” Kelley explained as she sadly looked up towards Alex’s sympathetic gaze.

  
“Like you said, there was nothing you could do as a team. I’ve seen you play, you’re too good to let bad coaches stop you from your full potential,” Alex said with determination.

  
“Thank you, I really needed that” Kelley said as she hugged Alex tightly. Both girls were trying not to breathe too deeply into each other’s shampoo.

  
“Promise me that you’ll try out for soccer with me, even if it’s just one season?” Alex whispered into Kelley’s ear.

  
“I will.” Kelley whispered back.


	2. The Jersey

“Kelley!” Alex screamed as she ran and jumped into her best friend’s arms.

Kelley grunted as she leaned back and adjusted for Alex’s weight. The first day of high school made Alex jittery and full of nerves. Ann cleared her throat beside them as the two best friends let go of each other.

“Oh uh... Alex this is Ann. My girlfriend,” Kelley said introducing them hesitantly.

“It’s nice to meet you. It’s a pleasure to finally put a face to the name I keep hearing so much about,” Ann said with a fake smile plastered on her face.

Kelley glanced nervously between the two girls staring each other down.

“I’m Alex. Kelley never mentioned that she had a girlfriend,” Alex challenged, sensing the thinly veiled hostility.

“Ann and I were just comparing classes, wanna join?” Kelley said cheerfully, trying to ease the tension. Kelley was in a few accelerated classes, so the only shared classes she had with Alex were P.E. and biology. Kelley promised Alex that she would help her with Geometry especially after Alex learned that Kelley was one of the only sophomores taking Pre-Calc.

“Ugh babe, we don’t have any classes or lunches together,” Ann pouted.

Alex looked away when Kelley quickly pecked Ann’s lips.

“I’ll walk you to class, we have math in the same hall,” Kelley said optimistically.

Alex sighed knowing that it was a terrible thing to fall for her obviously taken friend and future teammate. 

* * *

Alex sighed as she walked into the cafeteria, she did not have the same lunch shift as Kelley until tomorrow.

“Over here!” Christen waved Alex over to a table full of soccer girls. Besides Kelley, Alex hung out with Christen a lot over the summer. Alex smiled gratefully as she sat down next to Christen.

“This is Alex, most of you probably know or recognize her from soccer,” Christen introduced. “That’s Allie and Julie,” Christen gestured to the two girls on the opposite side of the table who smiled at Alex, “Sitting beside me is Tobin. My girlfriend.” Tobin nodded at Alex. 

“We were gushing about how Zach is starting on Friday!” Julie exclaimed, “I can’t wait to wear his away jersey.”

“Maybe you can convince Kelley to give you her away jersey,” Christen said to Alex as she wiggled her eyebrows suggestively. Alex lightly shoved Christen in indignation.

“I can’t believe she actually made it! She’s small by even soccer standards. Any girl on the soccer team could’ve done it but I heard that Coach Dominic personally picked her,” Allie said proudly.

“It’s a shame that Kelley didn’t join the Vipers with us, hopefully she comes back to the superior football in the spring,” Tobin added.

“I’ve been training with Kelley for the past few weeks. She has the potential and she can play in almost every position,” Alex quipped.

“Just training? Is that what the cool kids call it these days?” Christen said as Alex slapped her shoulder. The other girls were all smiling knowingly.

“What’s your favorite position to play with Kelley in?” Julie joked as the rest of the table, minus Alex, exploded with laughter. Alex felt her blush getting deeper by the second.

“I bet ten bucks that Alex can get Kelley’s away jersey without her even asking,” Allie wagered.

“Deal,” Christen said as she shook Allie’s hand.

* * *

The lunch group walked around the hallways before going back to class. Out of nowhere, Kelley came out of a classroom looking distracted. Before Kelley could scamper out of their sight Allie hollered,

“Hey can Alex wear your away jersey on Friday?”

“Oh hey! Sure thing. Sorry can’t talk, forgot book in locker,” Kelley said smiling to her friends while making a beeline towards her locker. A teacher hushed them as the girls giggled at the looks on Christen and Alex’s faces.

“I have no idea how that girl gets straight A’s while forgetting basic essentials,” Julie said as she shook her head.

“That was cheating!” Christen whisper shouted, not wanting to get in trouble on the first day.

“ _ Alex _ didn’t ask Kelley though,” Allie gleefully said as Christen reluctantly handed her a ten dollar bill. Tobin sympathetically placed her arm around her girlfriend.

“Kelley has a girlfriend. I am so screwed she’s already kinda jealous of me,” Alex said with a shocked look on her face. She secretly was ecstatic that she got to wear her friend’s jersey but the other girls would not let her live that down if they knew.

* * *

The week went by slowly, Alex was completely sick of ice breaking “games” and going over syllabuses that probably will be ignored for the rest of the year. The highlights of her “A” day was lunch with the Soccer Queens - Christen, Tobin, Allie, and Julie and what she jokingly called “The Bros” - Kelley and some of her teammates on “B” days. She luckily got to pick Kelley as a biology lab partner so she got an hour and forty-five minutes with Kelley on “A” days. Sadly “B” day P.E. meant that the sophomores were separated from the freshmen unless the coaches decided to play group kickball.

After school, Alex would do some soccer training with Kelley, and then some studying at the library until their parents call to tell them to home for dinner. Kelley was even harder to play against. Alex theorized that since football practice was moved to the mornings now that school has started, Kelley had more energy with an entire day between two practices than she had when she went from football then straight to soccer.

On Thursday night, Alex groaned and ran a hand through her hair, frustrated.

“What’s up?” Kelley asked as she looked up expectantly.

“Stupid geometry. It’s the first week and they're giving out packets as big as my head,” Alex exaggerated.

“I can help you through it, it’s just angle measures. You’ll get it in no time.”

“I guess,” Alex said not believing that she would understand at all.

Alex zoned out a little as she looked at the way Kelley’s jaw and lips were moving as she explained the concepts. She snapped into focus whenever Kelley looked towards her to make sure that she understood things.

Alex decided that this was a stupid time to be crushing on her best friend. A best friend who already has a girlfriend. She took her frustrations out on her math homework, struggling to finish the last page. Kelley noticed instantly.

“I’ll give you a present if you finish your math homework with 90% accuracy,” Kelley said nonchalantly, not looking up from her pre-calc book.

Alex eyed Kelley suspiciously, but finished her math homework with renewed vigor.

“Done!” Alex shouted ignoring a dirty glare one of the librarians gave her.

Kelley quickly looked at all of Alex’s answers putting on a blank poker face.

“100% I am very impressed, Ms. Morgan,” Kelley said gruffly, imitating Alex’s grumpy math teacher that they call Oscar the Grouch. Alex laughed as the librarians shushed them.

“Okay where’s my present?” Alex asked sassily.

“Chill, woman!” Kelley joked as she grabbed her backpack. Alex’s eyes widened at the shimmery white material of Kelley’s away jersey.

“Here, this was promised to you earlier, but I thought I’d be a good way to get you to actually study,” Kelley said smiling at Alex as she handed her the jersey.

“Thanks Kelley. I thought you had forgotten by now. You seemed really distracted when Allie asked you,” Alex responded as she ran her hands over the bright white letters of “O’Hara” printed above.

“I don’t make promises I can’t keep,” Kelley said thoughtfully.

A comfortable silence fell between them as they continued to study.

“Hey Kell?” Alex said after a while.

“Hm?”

“Are you ready for the game tomorrow?”

“I’m terrified but we’ll see how it goes,” Kelley responded truthfully.

“Don’t be scared. You’ve worked so hard on this. I’ve seen you make it from half the field,” Alex responded.

“Thank you Alex. The 50 yard kick was a lucky accident. But thank you,” Kelley said beaming.

Alex smiled back and squeezed Kelley’s hand in response.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was a day early because I didn't wanna compete with the glory of the 2019 World cup final.


	3. Game Day

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Posting this a week early in honor of the US winning the World Cup!

“You let  _ her _ wear your jersey?” Ann shouted at Kelley.

“Babe please don’t make a scene, I would’ve let you wear it if you had just asked,” Kelley said to the fuming girl in front of her.

“Don’t babe me right now. All your teammates gave their jerseys to their girlfriends!”

“Josh gave his to his little sister, Sam gave his to his boyfriend, and Mark gave his to his best friend, who happens to be a girl. Mark’s girlfriend is okay with it! You don’t even like sports.” Kelley said defending herself.

“You’re impossible. Leave me alone. I don’t want to talk about this anymore.” Ann said as she stormed off.

Alex walked up to her friend, she was basking in the jealous looks the other freshmen girls were throwing her earlier but she was ready to give the jersey to Ann if that meant Kelley would be happier that way. Alex didn’t really care about popularity, but she felt good knowing that she got to wear a shiny white football jersey while the other girls opted to wear purple to show school pride.

“Hey I’m sorry that she’s mad at you. I can’t help but feel responsible for that,” Alex said as she but a comforting hand on Kelley’s shoulder. Kelley’s eyes softened at Alex’s worried expression.

“No need to apologize. She hated when I put soccer first. I went to all of the musicals and plays she had tiny dancing parts in, I watched one play ten times for her, but she only went to one of my games last year. I literally set the all time scoring record in this town but she doesn’t care at all. The only reason she cares about football is so she can rake up some popularity points. You deserve my jersey for believing in me and pushing me harder,” Kelley said while looking at Alex intently.

“Of course Kelley. I wish you had a girlfriend that actually cared about the things you’re passionate about” Alex said out loud while her brain added  _ like me.  _ She decided to hug Kelley. She not wanting to lose her friend because of a dumb crush.

“Thank you,” Kelley said sincerely as they finally pulled away.

“Here I got you something,” the taller girl said reaching into her backpack.

“Pink pre-wrap?” Kelley asked.

“I know you’ll have your helmet on,” Alex said blushing, “but pink is what makes it work wonders. I wore red pre-wrap once to match my team colors and we got crushed. It’s my good luck charm. Tie it around your kicking leg or something.”

“Thanks again Alex. You saved my bad day and made it into something amazing,” the shorter girl said as the warning bell rang, forcing them to go to class.

* * *

Alex found herself crammed into the student section. Luckily, being friends with the junior girls meant that they got to sit closer to the field, which meant a better view of Kelley. She and the others were decked out with purple face paint.

“Hey look, number five!” Christen screams over the noise of the crowd excitedly pointing at Kelley off to the side doing some last minute kicks into a practice net. Alex was bummed that she hasn’t seen Kelley since bio but she did her best to give Kelley a pep talk through notes they passed in class.

“Hey Alex!,” Allie screamed, “Isn’t that your pre-wrap around Kelley’s leg?”

Alex blushed as she realized that Kelley had tied pre-wrap around her right thigh. Alex was elated that the stubborn girl actually followed her advice.

“Maybe,” Alex responded, blushing even harder as the other girls giggled.

“It’s the most adorable thing ever,” Christen said as the other girls nodded thoroughly agreeing with her.

“You’re the most adorable thing ever,” Tobin said making Christen blush as she wraps her arm around Tobin’s waist. Alex smiled and rolled her eyes at her friends. 

The game started after the national anthem and a message from their principal, sternly enforcing proper sportsmanship from the teams and the fans. The Treeside Tigers with their hideous white jerseys with an orange neck design that made them look like they were wearing sports bras won the coin toss. Alex knows that Kelley would have preferred that her team received the kickoff first but Alex was excited that she got to see Kelley kick. Kelley pointed towards the student section before kicking the ball to the other side of the field, straight to the twenty yard line. That made the student section go even crazier than they had before. A sea of white rushed towards the sea of purple. They underestimated Kelley and ran past the ball. By the time one of the Tigers players got to the ball, a Brahmas player had tackled him.

“First down on the twenty yard line! First kickoff in a football game by number five Kellleeyyyyy O’Harrraaa! ” the announcer screamed enthusiastically.

The Brahma’s defense were unstoppable and after four downs the Tigers decided to punt the ball. Sam received the ball and dodged past the defenders and went out of bounds twenty yards away from a touchdown. The Brahmas ran the ball again. 

“Touchdown Brrraahhmaaass!” the announcer yelled.

The home audience erupted in cheers. Alex nervously watched as Kelley stepped onto the field. The student section on the other side started to chant “Don’t miss” to psych her out.

The Brahmas snapped the ball and Alex saw everything in slow motion. Kelley ran and kicked the ball. It sailed between the posts and Alex felt herself breathe again. Kelley casually gave the home side a two-finger salute. The home section screamed even harder.

“That was Kelley O’Hara with her first field goal,” the announcer said cheerfully.

Alex and her friends were standing on their seats cheering. The student section went wild. The Brahmas were actually in the lead for once. Kelley took her helmet off as she walked back to the bench. Alex’s heart raced as Kelley’s eyes searched the student section. The kicker blew a kiss.

“That was definitely for you,” Christen said as all the other girls looked directly at Alex.

“That was not for me, in any shape or form,” Alex said dejectedly, “Ann is sitting a few rows in front of us.”

* * *

The Brahmas ended up winning their first game of the season, 35-19. Kelley managed to get five kicks.

Alex spotted Kelley searching the crowd. She and her friends were huddled around the concession stand waiting for Kelley. Julie already wandered off to find Zach. Alex spotted Kelley before anyone else. Kelley leapt once, and then once again right into Alex’s arms. Alex grabbed whatever she can to make sure that she wouldn’t drop her friend. Alex blushed and loosened her grip on Kelley’s butt. Alex felt Kelley’s legs lock tightly behind her back.

“Thank you so much for coming! The pre-wrap worked wonders,” Kelley said as she smiled into Alex’s neck.

“That was all you. I’m so proud of you for getting where you are now,” Alex smiled as Kelley gently dismounted and held Alex’s shoulders. They smiled at each other for a few minutes before they heard a throat clear.

“Hey babe!” Ann said as she forcefully grabbed Kelley and pulled her in a kiss. Alex looked away.

“That was definitely worth all the taunts from the Tigers fans. But please in private next time? My grandparents are here and they don’t know yet” Kelley said as she looked lovingly at Ann.

“Well you kicked really well, too bad you won’t quit soccer for good, I prefer seeing you in football tights. You should tell your grandparents soon, don’t you love me?” Ann said flirting back. Kelley frowned slightly, not knowing how to respond.

“Wanna hang out after the game? We are all celebrating at the diner. Y’all are invited too,” Kelley said as she smiled warmly at Alex and her friends.

“Sorry that we can’t hang out after the game. It’s girls night! No significant others allowed, especially those not supportive enough. I’ll see you later” Ann said as she walked away with her friends.

“Guess it’s just us,” Kelley shrugged as she turned back at Alex.


End file.
